by Jacob Long
The Real World
By Jacob Long
To my Mom and Dad
for teaching me about the real
world and helping me believe
that I can find my place in it
1
The Extreme World-First Island of Idem–2019
In the day and in the night, it's the image that constantly haunts my soul. I close my eyes, and I see them floating perilously in the air. They're in danger, and no matter what I do, I can't save them. I know it's not real. At least, it's not happening right now. It's the worst kind of nightmare. The kind that has already come true. I'm lying on the ground, observing all of it. I can barely move. Swirls of wind carry debris high into the air. The entire island has been torn apart. Dark clouds fill the sky.
The man responsible for keeping them captive is floating between us. I'm not sure who he is. It doesn't matter though. He's just a pawn. Further out, into the sky, inside of a massive airship is the woman controlling him. She is a very powerful telepath. Her name is Fulloway, and she is one of two consuls who rule the country known as Paradisum. Consul Carlisle is the other leader. He doesn't appear to be here today for some reason.
They both seem to be immortal, having been around since the Omega War back in the 1950's. The Supreme Ministry is their government and their military that they use to rule most of the world with. They claim to know what is best for everyone, however, they are the ones who are rumored to have initiated the Omega War.
The story goes that the country known as the Soviet Union dropped two Omega bombs on the former country known as the United States. After that, Carlisle and Fulloway gave the order to drop Omega bombs all over the world. These bombs not only killed billions of people, but they also mutated many others into super-humans. Most of the superhumans survived, but many did not. Today, the Supreme Ministry has come here to eradicate our free island home.
"Let them go!" I yell up, toward Fulloway. Slowly, I begin to move. There is a nauseating smell of burnt flesh. I realize that it's my own. I have become somewhat numb to the pain. That's probably not a good thing. I think I'm more focused on a different sort of pain at the moment. My eyes are fixated on Elena and our families, hovering up in the air. On the right are my mom and dad. On the left are her mom, her dad, and her little brother. She's right in the middle. Elena, the love of my life being held captive. Despite all of my training, I can do nothing to save her. I can't even help myself.
Underneath their strong expressions of bravery, there is fear and sadness. Being willing to die for a good cause doesn't take the fear away. It just allows you to do everything in your power to stop what's happening from happening. That's what terrifies me the most. We are all helpless, even while doing everything that we can. I look up at them and hold onto every moment, knowing that it may be our last.
On the left side of the group is Administrator Carter. He can manipulate the wind. On the right side is Administrator Haws who channels and controls lightning as well as all other forms of electricity. They are level 4 superhumans genetically engineered from birth to be generals for the Supreme Ministry. As I start to sit up, the feeling of pure physical agony comes rushing back to greet me. I have to ignore it. I crawl to what's left of a house wall and prop myself up on it.
I look around the war-torn city for anything that I can use as a weapon. I can't see any. It doesn't matter though. The effort would be useless. I'm too slow in my current condition. They would stop me before I could reach it. I can hear them laughing. I lift my head up to see that Elena's brother is struggling to maintain his brave face. Tears are streaming down his cheeks. It breaks my heart to watch this. It breaks my heart, even more, to watch the tears running down Elena's cheeks.
Everyone's face contorts when they're sad. Elena's does this but only slightly. Only minor contortion with a pink blush. Something about seeing her vulnerability makes me appreciate her even more. She is so beautiful, even when she's sad. The tears always come a little late, but when they start, they really get going. It breaks my heart every time.
It breaks my heart every time I see her cry, and this is the worst of it. Most of the time, I feel like everything will eventually be okay, and that gives me the courage to comfort her. Right now, as much as I want it, I lack that reassuring feeling. I look over to see that my mom and Elena's mom also have tears running down their faces. As I take a closer look, I can see that now, the tears forming in the eyes of my and Elena's dads. I feel the moisture build in the corner of my own eyes. My chest feels heavy. My jaw and neck are tight. At the time, I thought, there must be something that I can do. Now, I know how it all plays out. There is nothing that I can do.
What is Fulloway waiting for? She must want me to suffer. Perhaps Carlisle and Fulloway have chosen to make an example out of me. But for who? Are they going to let any of us live? Are they going to kill me in front of them? Or are they going to kill them in front of me? Elena and I look at each other. "Don't give up hope, Zvezda Moya," she says to me, telepathically. It means 'my star,' in Russian. That is where her family is originally from. "I won't, Angel Moya."
The mysterious telekinetic man floats in between us, demanding our attention. My body rises into the air as he raises his arm upward. "In order to fulfill your destiny, you must lose everything!" He says the words, but I know that it's still Fulloway that commands him. "After all, you are the chosen one," he says, somewhat sarcastically.
He nods to General Haws. All of our eyes turn to him as he nods in return. He lifts his hands up into the air. A bolt of lightning channels through his body, from the ground up to his left arm and into the sky. He stretches his right arm out toward Elena and our families, and a thin bolt of electricity spreads throughout the group, shocking all of them. I look on in horror as they scream and writhe in pain.
I struggle to move. Every muscle tenses up. I'm yelling, incoherently as loudly as I can. My throat is aching. I feel like an angry feral animal. My efforts seem pointless, but it's all that I can do as I watch in horror at the pain of the people that I love the most in this world. It shouldn't be this way. This isn't what I trained for. I'm supposed to sacrifice myself for them not the other way around. What have I done? How could I have let this happen?
I feel a burning sensation in my eyes. I can tell that it's burning, even though it doesn't hurt. This memory is my first time experiencing this sensation. It is a sensation that I still haven't grown accustomed to. The heat increases as a blue flame bursts from my chest. Soon, flames surround the rest of my body. Only the very edge is red and orange. An overwhelming feeling of strength and rage consumes my entire being.
The Extreme World–The Second Island of Idem- 2020
I wake up, yelling. I can still feel the heat of the flames. I spot a reddish-orange glint in my peripheral vision. I look down to see that fire is completely engulfing the couch where I am lying. The frame gives way under the pressure of my weight, and I crash down to the ground. The entire piece of furniture collapses into pieces. Blue fire still envelopes my whole body.
I pause for a moment, taking in the strange reality of this ability that I have recently developed. I hold my right hand out, palm up, and fingers slightly curled. I absorb the fire into my body until one single sapphire colored flame remains in my palm. I stare at it for a moment. I'm in awe of its beauty, it's power, and it's capability for destruction. I make a fist, and a waft of smoke escapes my grasp as the flame extinguishes.
I would think that after that I would be fully awake, but no. The fact that it's still dark outside doesn't encourage me either. That's weird. I know I stayed up late last night. I must have only been asleep for an hour or two before that nightmare brought me back to an even worse reality. I look to my left where another couch used to reside. The
ground is charred, black. There are mostly ashes with tiny pieces of wood and fabric spread throughout. This is getting to be a real issue. I guess I should ask RT if he can help me design a fireproof couch. A fireproof house, just to be safe. I think I'll ask him after a few more hours of sleep. I crawl over to my chair which happens to be the last remaining piece of furniture in the room.
I'm not too excited about it though. My chair isn't as nice to sleep on as my couches are- used to be. Don't get me wrong. It's great for watching old movies. It just doesn't lean back to a completely horizontal level so I can never quite get as comfortable as I'd like to get while sleeping. Not that I can get very comfortable anywhere lately. I climb onto the chair leaving the blanket underneath me as I do so. Once I'm on it, I pull the blanket out and stretch it over my body. I pull up the lever on the side of the chair, and the footrest pops up. As I lean back, my eyelids collapse shut, and I nearly let myself forget about everything if only for a brief moment.
Extreme World – The First Island of Idem - 2015
My heart rate quickly speeds up as the combination of physical exertion, and anticipation hits me. I try not to keep my feet on the ground for too long as I run down the hallway. I am in my home on the first island of Idem. I dart into the lounge. I'm fifteen. Elena is fourteen. Our parents have gone out for a few hours, so we've been playing a game of Marco Polo. I stick my head slightly out of the doorway and peer down both sides of the corridor. No sign of her. "Marco?" I say before I check again in every direction. There is a brief silence and then, "Polo."
Only it doesn't come from the direction I thought it would. It's as if Elena is several yards behind me. Inside the same room. I turn around and tread steadily toward the chair that is straight in front of me. Oddly, it faces toward the window. I can see that it looks like someone is sitting in it. If she is there though, why didn't she turn around to see me when she said, "Polo?" Neither of us is sure about the proper way to play Marco Polo. We just thought it would be fun, so we agreed upon some basic rules that made sense to us.
I suspect that she'll be popping out the next time so, I back up slowly, sneaking into the closet behind me. I yell, "Marco" once again before carefully closing the closet doors. Then I hear it, "Polo!" her voice comes from right beside me. I jump out of the closet and nearly hit the floor. Elena follows me out, bursting into laughter. Her laugh is so beautiful. Sometimes, it's almost completely silent. She nearly falls to the ground when she's laughing this way. It's as if there is some invisible force pulling all of the energy out of her body while causing her to laugh and smile uncontrollably.
I can't help but laugh and smile as well. Now I realize that this is the moment that I first realized my love for her. During our initial meeting there was an initial attraction, and from talking with her, I immediately knew that I liked her, but now I know that I love her. This is when I really fell hard for that dark-haired, green-eyed angel.
I feign outrage and chase her around the room. She is quick but laughing too hard. It slows her down. I tackle her onto the sofa, tickling her into submission.
"Admit it. I got you," Elena demands.
"Okay, you actually got me. For the first time since- forever, you actually got me," I tease.
“Well, it's the start of a new age. So get used to it,” she replies.
“I guess I should reward you. You know, for your great accomplishment,” I say. She replies with a curious smile. “Oh, and what is my reward?”
I look deep into those emerald eyes of her's, and I say, “povesti.”
Right before I lean in, she responds, “You're going to tell me a story?”
I guess I got my Russian words a little mixed up. I've been learning to try and impress her. Which is obviously turning out very well right now. "Uh, no. I meant to say, 'Po- Po-?" The word just won't come to me, and she's not about to help me out. "What kind of story? I'm so excited and honored that you've chosen to reward me with a-" "Potseluy!" I break in as I remember the Russian word for kiss. As I lean down, she puts her finger to my lips. "Potseluy!" She quickly rolls away and runs toward the window. "I want a story." I stand up, and we have a stare-down moment. She looks to the door, eying her escape.
"Don't you think it's weird that our parents just let us hang out while they're gone?" She asks. I think she's trying to distract me. "Well they probably don't realize that we like each other," I reply. "Oh?" she replies teasingly. "I didn't realize that either." I laugh. "Well, they probably don't realize it because you're so mean to me all of the time!” She grins as I rush toward her. She quickly runs up and over the chair. I corner her again. “Well, what story are you going to share with me?” I smile and exhale, shaking my head.
I decide that I will give in to her demands. "Fine. I will tell you a story." I slowly walk toward her. "Once upon a time," I say as I put my arms around her waist. "You and I..." Her eyes widen in anticipation. "...make out on that sofa over there." I toss my head to the side, gesturing to the couch. "...the end." She stares at me for a moment with a hint of a smile. "Well, at least the beginning and the ending were good," she replies. "I'm not so sure about the middle though." I shake my head and smile. I try not to laugh as I pull her in closer. I lean in and close my eyes. Before I can kiss her, she taps me on the head twice in a rhythmic pattern. She repeats the movement and not softly either. I open my eyes, and-
The Extreme World – Second Island of Idem - 2020
I wake up. There is a loud knock at the door, and my head is pounding. Now I know what is going on. Someone is outside my house, and they have ruined a good dream. A dream that felt so real. I dream of Elena most nights, but I usually never dream of memories. Unless it's the one I had earlier. Why couldn't they knock on my door during that nightmare?
I let the knocking continue. Not that I would answer it usually. I'm not very keen on having visitors, especially lately. I consider who could be bothering me right now. It can't be R.T. He's too smart for this. He knows I'm not alive until the afternoon. The knocking doesn't stop. The incessant pounding is too much. Finally, I roll off of the chair. As I do, four liquor bottles roll off with me, and we all fall to the ground, together.
I say 'we' like the liquor bottles are people because they are my friends. They're my best friends, right now anyway. Besides RT, of course. One of Vodka, two of Rum and one bottle of Absinthe. These guys are very well known for their high alcohol content, but it doesn't mean much to me. I can only get a short buzz from drinking all of them at once.
I don't understand all of the science behind it, but Doc says my metabolism is just too fast ever since I gained my abilities. It has something to do with the fact that I don't get sick anymore and my wounds heal almost as fast as they appear. Dr. Kasey or “Doc” is our last surviving doctor. We used to have several more. Most of whom were specialists. Doc was trained to be a general practicing physician, but now he has to be a specialist for all of us.
I reach up and grab hold of the coffee table, barely managing to pull myself up. I must have challenged my limits last night. I don't feel so good. As I look around the room, the evidence is mounting. Scattered around are other empty liquor bottles.
The knocking repeats. "Jayden, open up," yells an intrusive voice. Who is that? I press a button on the side panel, and the door slides open. "It has a buzzer," I say as I squint my eyes looking at the barrel-shaped man who has disturbed my slumber. I can barely believe it. It is RT after all. This better be important. "It's broken," he says pointing to the control panel on the outside. I peer around the corner at it. “Oh, yeah,” I respond, still half asleep.
“Can I come in?” He asks. “There's something you need to see.” He holds up his forearm and taps on his manica which is an armor housed with a computer and a few weapons. There are two manica. One for each forearm. Everyone on the island has them. There is a screen on the palm side that can be used to contact others and access information. RT, along with his mentor, Dr. Barnes developed the manica as well as many other technolog
ical advances. Some of it has come about as a result of studying Ministry tech, and other things have just come straight from them.
In the last year, since the attack, RT has been incredibly busy studying, and designing. And he's been keeping the rest of us productive with mining and building. It's not so bad though, I do most of the mining myself. It's actually pretty easy with my abilities. A jet stream of flame tends to cut through the rock with ease. We have other super-humans to lend their assistance as well. There used to be a lot more, but we lost most of our people in that last battle. Including Dr. Barnes. Now RT is the main guy, and I am his assistant. Except, I'm not always a very good one.
"Yeah, sure. Come on in." I figure that this must be important. RT is not one to disturb me unless it is. He walks quickly through the open doorway as soon as I make the invitation. Although I'm a little irritated by the disruption, I can't help but wonder what he wants to show me. Maybe it's a new weapon design or an upgrade to the cloaking and shielding system. Maybe it's an upgrade to his weather control system, "Tawhiri." Although, I would be surprised to see what new things it can do considering what it already does for us.
Tawhiri took our current island home of Idem from a rainy, stormy wasteland to a sunny paradise. Our first island had very favorable living conditions; however, it pales in comparison to what we have on this one with Tawhiri. I am curious to see what RT is so excited about, part of me doubts that I will be as enthusiastic as he is once it is revealed.